The Museum of Life Sciences is a

life science Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy t ...

and natural history museum that is part of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

in London, England. It is housed on the Guy's Campus, adjacent to the

Gordon Museum of Pathology The Gordon Museum of Pathology is a medical museum that is part of King's College London in London, England. It is one of the largest pathology museums in the world and is the largest medical museum in the United Kingdom. Its primary function is ...

in the Hodgkin Building. It was founded in 2009 and is the first new museum in King's College for over 100 years. It exists to explain the diversity of

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

and

plant life Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...

in the context of the biological and health sciences. The current curator is Dr Gillian Sales. The Museum contains historic biological and pharmaceutical collections from the constituent colleges (

Queen Elizabeth College Queen Elizabeth College (QEC) was a college in London. It had its origins in the Ladies' (later Women's) Department of King's College, London, England, opened in 1885 but later accepted men as well. The first King's 'extension' lectures for l ...

, Chelsea College and Institute of Psychiatry) that make up the modern King's College London. The specimens of the Museum date from 1800s to the present, and are arranged into distinct collections: Zoological, Botanical, Pharmaceutical, Microscope Slide and Craniofacial Skeletal collections. These include skeletons, fluid-preserved material, taxidermy, dried items, fossils, microscope and a herbarium of plant material.

References

External links

Museum of Life Sciences home page
on King's College London website {{Authority control King's College London Natural history museums in London